After a few good playoff showings this past week or so, I guarentee everybody will be on this kid's balls next season. Nocioni (who shared small forward minutes this season with Chicago's Luol Deng) is perhaps the finest example of a perimeter player exploiting Miami's bad perimeter defense. With Shaquille O'Neal seemingly always in foul trouble this series, players like Nocioni, Ben Gordon, and Kirk Hinrich have been putting up huge numbers against the Heat. In fact, this weakness is so apparent, the series has been tied up (2-2).

Here's why I think this kid's props need to be zapped away from him: during the regular season, Nocioni averaged 13 & 6 in 27 minutes a night (far from the 22 & 10 he's running on James Posey and Antoine Walker right now). The guy's stats are inflated for one, single series and I know everyone's gonna pretend he's the next big thing... but here's the truth: he can't succeed against competent outside defenses. His biggest games (this season) have come against teams like the Cav's, the Knicks, and the non-Artest Pacers! Take this list, for an example:

- He went 3 of 10 against Josh Smith and the Hawks in 31 minutes of play

- Detroit had him go 3 for 11, while holding him to only 2 rebounds in 23 minutes

And so on and so forth. My big problem with guys like Nocioni is that they get undeserved credit for simply showing up 4 games in the playoffs. Hell, Manu Ginobli was elected to be an all-star PURELY on his playoff performances. That's a joke to me.

Nocioni is a decent player, I'll give him that, who'll probably blossom out into a 15 and 8 player in 30 minutes a game... but lets not blow it out of proportion here. Before ALLLLL the BS comes rolling in from people who love trying to call "the next big thing"... please, do your research before slobbering all over Andres' nuts. Thank you.

he's the kind of player you'd love to have on your team. i personally hate matching up against bulldogs like himself because they box you out even on layups. i hope this series gives him confidence that will carry over into next season. scott skiles is like monty in a way - you cant tell what his lineup will be from night to night. granted they have two good SF's in deng and nocinoi, so i guess thats a great problem to have. regardless, its a good call #32, people will be on this dude's nuts. but i like watching the young bulls play, so hopefully he proves you wrong. =P

i think the list of pervious playoff studs - regular season busts should include another spur. nazr mohummad. i ****ing drafted you in the 20th round for rebounds. ugh.

The Baby Bulls are definately fun to watch... and I'm not trying to take anything away from Andres' game (like I said, he'll blossom into something respectable). I just want to make sure nobody starts punching in all-star votes for him anytime soon. He's good, but the only stars on the Bulls right now are Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich. The rest of them (Deng, Nocioni, Sweetney, Chandler, ect) are all decent, but I'd hesitate to call them all-stars.

Players like Manu Ginobli, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Sam Cassell, and (apparently) Nocioni are all well and good during the regular season, but they live to perform in the playoffs. None of them are superstars in the regular season... they are above-average, but not star-worthy. However, something about the post season just brings out the best in them.

It's fun to watch during this time of year, but it can be frustrating as hell when people are trying to make an all-star case in February for somebody who only averages 14 points a night and plays no defense!

I'd probably put Battier ahead of Deng... but the rest of the list looks about right.

There's something about a SF who can play excellent man OR team defense that's attractive to me. Not many 3's in the league are defensive locks anymore (save for Ron Artest). Usually, centers and shooting guards get all the defensive ink nowadays. Battier is a hard-nosed player who lives to D somebody up. Aside from Ron & Ben Wallace, I haven't seen many players WANT to play that tough as nails defense every play. Battier WANTS to lock somebody up and frustrate them out of their mind... and I respect the hell out of that.

defense is exactly why i'm high on deng. he's extremely long and athletic. like ike but without the bulk. battier could quite possibly do extremely well on offense but he plays for the grizz who are a half-court team and run everything through gasol.

migya, i initially did put a 20 line gap in between the strippers and dunleavy, but then i thought to myself, 'no one wants to scroll down through that stuff,' so i figured everyone would already know dunleavy is only second to spoiled milk.

Cory should be after EB, slightly ahead of Shane. Once upon a time Hill was the head of the class. Nocioni looks good, but I'd rather have Deng. The Bulls have a bright future...Wow... Tyrus or LaMarcus will look pretty darn good wit em ---***030***---

#32 wrote:[My thoughts exactly; which is why it's gonna drive me crazy next year to hear the nonstop praise about a 'break year' for Nocioni.

He did the same thing when he played here. He out-hustles his rivals. That's a great virtue for a player, but doesn't make him a star. Of course, as he's such a hard worker, his stats will keep increasing as long as he's given more play time and more touches. But he won't be becoming a better player.